Kansas University is making big plans for Saturday's championship game of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament at Allen Fieldhouse.

Aside from having additional personnel positioned for on-site responsibilities — from processing tickets to providing concessions — organizers also are working to accommodate a rush of fans making their way to the fieldhouse for the 1 p.m. tip between the Kansas Jayhawks and South Florida Bulls.

Doors open at 11:30 a.m., and the word is to arrive early. Parking in campus lots is free.

“We’re running this like a men’s game,” said Capt. Schuyler Bailey, of the KU Public Safety Office. “That’s what they’re expecting: the type of crowd like we’d expect at a men’s game. That’s what we’re preparing for.”

Whether the game ends up drawing a capacity of 16,300 or not, postgame traffic will be steered from lots near the fieldhouse by KU officers and their counterparts from Lawrence police, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department and Kansas Highway Patrol.

Fans will find familiar routes converted for one-way traffic in the following directions:

l West: 15th Street, from Naismith Drive to Iowa Street.

l West: Irving Hill Road, from Naismith to Constant Avenue.

l South: Constant, from Irving Hill to 19th Street.

l North: Naismith, from the fieldhouse service drive to Crescent Boulevard.

Jim Marchiony, an associate athletics director, declined to be drawn into speculation about whether the game would approach a sellout, or if Kansas Athletics Inc. might raise a WNIT banner into the rafters of the fieldhouse, or if a victory might prompt planning for a postseason parade.

“We’re not going to jinx anything by talking about things like that,” said Marchiony, who plans to return to Lawrence for the game from Detroit, where he’s been attending meetings and events associated with the men’s Final Four. “We’ll talk about that after the game.”

Comments

A parade and a banner? This IS an accomplishment and a step forward for the program But this is the second tournament not a national championship tournament. Congrats to Bonnie and the Women, you have done us proud, but you will have to wait for a banner and parade.

All I got to say is let's sell that place out and get it rockin for Ku womans B-ball. I know I would be in awe if this happens but feel alot better on not how many people show up but rather the final outcome.